Rhys Ifans plays Dylan Thomas in new film Dominion

Actor Rhys Ifans is to play Dylan Thomas in a film about the Welsh poet's last days before his death.

The Haverfordwest-born actor will star alongside Hollywood star John Malkovich in the film Dominion, which starts shooting later this month, according to Variety magazine.

It will focus on the poet's final days before his death in New York in 1953.

The film is the latest in a series of productions being made this year to mark the centenary of Thomas's birth.

John Malkovich will reportedly play poet John Brinnin, the man who invited Thomas to New York.

During his four visits to New York in the 1950s, Brinnin acted as a promoter for Thomas as he toured the city, reciting his work.

The story will focus on the events surrounding the last days before the Swansea-born poet's death at the age of 39, which included visits to the White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village.

The film will be directed by Steven Bernstein.

Ifans, whose films include The Amazing Spider-Man and Notting Hill, will also pay tribute to Dylan Thomas at the Festival No6 in Portmeirion, Gwynedd, in September.

Festival organisers said the Dylan Thomas tribute will feature Ifans, director Kevin Allen and BBC 6 Music poet-in-residence Murray Lachlan Young, who are currently filming a big screen adaption of Thomas's Under Milk Wood.